Hide Me From the Truth
by suspensegirl
Summary: Post S2 - Future Fic - Blair discovers she's pregnant & is eager to tell her husband, Chuck, until an accidental phone conversation with Dan Humphrey changes her mind, and makes her cautious about her marriage. CB
1. Unexpected

A/N: Because I'm not really inspired to update my other multi-chap fics tonight, I don't have any oneshots popping up in my head, and I refuse to waste good writing time when I have so little of it these days. *nod* This fic is my second BoB preview finally written out! =D Idea #15 won on my poll, so here it is! Remember, this is set after S2 (yet still in the distant future). The show did not specifically say that B knew about how Chuck's mom died (even if in S3 we find out she didn't). So, this is going off the idea that Chuck's mom died and no one knows how except for Chuck, Bart, and Dan…until Dan tells her. XD Enjoy!

*requested by **pinkberry** (from _fanpop_…I think)

….

**Ch.1—Unexpected**

_Positive._

Her lips parted, and for a moment she just stood there in shock.

_ She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby. Chuck and Blair were going to have a baby._

Excitement bubbled up from her stomach. She could hardly wait to tell him. She knew he would be _ecstatic_. The thrill had shown all over his face when she'd accepted his love confession just after their high school graduation, and then again when she had accepted his proposal and didn't run away from him at the altar. But…a _baby_? All their own? Distinctly Chuck and Blair _100%_?

That sounded incredible, and would scare the hell out of everyone they knew…soon after their initial joy.

She knew he'd be thrilled.

It was extremely hard to keep the revelation to herself, but she wanted him to know first and he was working. Telling him that she'd just discovered she was pregnant with his child wasn't exactly something she wanted to do over the phone. She wanted to do something special to build up to the event. Maybe she'd set up some sort of a romantic dinner; dim the lights, light candles, have the hottest sex of their lives… after their little rendezvous she could break the news—_or during, perhaps?_ She laughed. _That_ would catch him off-guard. Though…knowing him he would suspect something throughout the whole transaction.

She sighed, but any dimming happiness rejuvenated in a heartbeat when she remembered that she was carrying his baby. Her heart fluttered with joy at the thought. She could not stop smiling for anything. She tried to think of what his reaction would be. As a sixteen year old, he probably wouldn't have expected to have any offspring period, unless he forgot a condom some fateful night. Images of the night she lost her virginity flooded through her mind. She got goosebumps.

Too bad she couldn't fast forward the day, until Chuck came walking through their front door. She looked at the clock. Still three more hours until he would come home. Her longing for him increased dramatically_._ She'd been missing him all morning, but the aching need she felt for him in those long moments of his absence had temporarily lessened in the excitement over the fact of the two of them being _parents_. Blair put a hand over her still flat tummy. Her cheeks flushed at the knowledge of what now laid inside there. She _had_ to tell Chuck, or at least Serena—_somebody_!

She decided she could call Chuck, and just gush about missing him. He would probably be so skeptical that he'd come home early! She hoped at least. It would completely ruin any plans for a pre-informing romantic evening she had in mind, but she had to release her crackling energy somehow. Kissing Chuck fiercely when he skeptically walked through the door would not cause disappointment on his end, she knew.

She fingered through the contacts list in her phone, scrolling down madly and hardly realizing the number—or the _name_ rather—she had pressed. She was bouncing with excitement and forced herself to leave the bathroom and go sit on the couch, though that did not stop the anxious fidgeting of her feet on the carpet. She decided the bed was the best way to go, but of course that wonderful plus sign was still sitting on its stick in the bathroom, so she went back in there and closed the door before plopping back down on the bed in their bedroom. She couldn't let herself be tempted to spill out all the news the instant he answered the phone. Knowing the pregnancy test was out in the open would only increase those odds.

"Blair?"

Her eyebrows fused in confusion and sudden disappointment. She pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced at the screen that so clearly showed Dan Humphrey's name and number. She sighed, thoroughly irritated by the knowledge that she hadn't deleted Dan's number from her phone.

"Hello?" She heard him say. She shook her head, moving the phone back to its original location on her ear.

"Humphrey?"

There seemed to be an ease in his breathing pattern suddenly but she did not really care what for. Surely, he had not thought that someone had stolen her phone and called him, or _worse_—that _she_ had cared enough to prank call him _herself_. He may have helped her with a few things during their college experience, but they were definitely not what you would call _friends_.

"Di—did you call me?" he asked, clearly as confused as she had been.

Her eyes closed in quiet annoyance. She did not want to waste her time explaining the reason for her unintended call to him. "Yes. On accident. It won't happen again." She rolled her eyes, making to hang up.

"Wait, Blair!"

She held the phone in mid-air, truly not wanting to listen to whatever he had to say—regardless if it had to do with her or not.

"_What_, Humphrey?"

She was almost grumpy, and he knew not to dawdle when that type of energy came flowing from any girl's lips, let alone Blair Bass.

"Why, I mean—rather how—"

She sighed testily.

He gulped, forcing his mind and his lips to speed along the process.

"How did you _accidentally_ call me?"

Her eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business." She didn't know why she was defending herself or why he was so curious about the whole transaction, but she still felt the need to. He didn't have the right to question her. In hindsight, she wondered if her hormones had already started to kick in.

"You must have been in some sort of a ru—"

"Daniel Humphrey!"

His eyes widened. _Since when did Blair Bass call him by his first and last name?_

She cleared her throat, and quickly gathered her thoughts in a pristine, organized fashion. "If you must know, I've got some pressing news I need to tell Chuck."

"I…see." He still sounded confused.

"_What_?" she asked, fuming and finding her temper hard to control. She didn't know how she had gotten so sucked into this conversation with Cabbage Patch, of all people, but now she had to know what he was assuming. She wouldn't have him snickering about her reaction to what he said with that _Abrams_ snitch later.

"N-nothing, it's none of my business."

She rolled her eyes, flinging her hand to rest on her hip. _Now, he decides it's none of his business. _"Humphrey."

He had never been very good at rebelling Blair when she was commanding him, but that didn't change the fact that he seriously regretted pressing her for information. He just had an eerie feeling about it, like he knew what she had so anxiously been planning to tell Chuck. It was as if he'd felt her excitement slip away when she'd realized it was him and not her husband of two and a half years.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" The knowledge he held in his hands, eagerly waiting to be spread among the masses, was so very close to slipping past his lips. Chuck would hate him for it, but his Humphrey conscience told him Blair should know. Belatedly, he realized husband and wife would more often than not share something as personal as this.

She was startled by his blatant, knowing question but said nothing. She only pursed her pink-tinted ruby lips and waited for what he would say next. She didn't even want to know a little bit how he knew about her recently discovered condition or why she's even still talking to him. It shouldn't matter so much what Dan Humphrey thinks of Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass and them producing an heir. But it does a little bit. Cabbage Patch is occasionally trustworthy, even if he's untrustworthy more often. She has to know what's on his mind. if he doesn't tell her now, she'll track him down; because it's what she does, and he should know better.

"Do you know how his mother died?"

Something deadly and dangerous fell into her stomach. It was quickly replaced by anger, but she couldn't forget the fact that there was a huge possibility that Dan knew something she didn't, and it seriously bothered her. Especially since it had to do with Chuck, and _she_ should be the one to know everything that has to do with her husband.

"Of course," she spat, trying to come off as more dominating and like he's the tiniest insect on earth for even _thinking_ she knew anything but the truth. However, he sensed that little bit of doubt hanging off the tip of her tongue. She scoffed in the brief silence, wary of just what he might be thinking, and increasingly annoyed that he even _contemplated_ he would have known something about that painful subject in Chuck's life—and that she would not.

"How?"

He wasn't daring at her, but she took it as that, because it would have been that had it been Chuck talking to her. Her eyes narrowed. "Like I would—"

"A plane crash when Chuck was six, right?"

Her lips parted and an eerie chill ripped up her spine. _He shouldn't know this much_. She shook her head confidently, wishing he could see it, so one of them would believe in what she hoped to pass off as all-knowing. "Humphrey, I think—"

"Well, it wasn't. She died in childbirth, Chuck told me himself."

The silence that fell over them the next fifteen seconds was literally killing him. He shouldn't have been so cocky about what he'd said, probably hadn't been, but the words had been and now it's physically hurting him to know that she hasn't hung up yet. The dial tone hasn't made itself known yet, but what he said had obviously not gone over well, since she had spoken a word since his confession. He wasn't even sure she was breathing. Maybe she just didn't care, though that was a highly unlikely scenario.

"I'm sorry I had to be the one to—"

"Is that all?"

"What?" his forehead creased. Somehow he hadn't expected her to go all _ignorant_ on him. He had been so sure she would've taken him seriously.

_**BEEP.**_

__"Oh, incoming call, sorry," she quickly hung up on him, somewhat grateful that she had a legitimate reason for cutting the conversation short. She did have an incoming call.

But she couldn't answer it. Not now. Not after _that_. Instead, she swallowed hard and ignored the ringing sound, silencing her phone and burying it under her pillow. Feeling very unnerved, she re-entered the bathroom and pushed the positive pregnancy into the trashcan. She would deal with that little factor later. Suddenly, the last thing she wanted to do was tell her beloved husband that he was going to be a father.

Beneath their pillows on the bed, Blair's hidden phone flashed a few times and then resumed its hibernating mode.

**2 MISSED CALLS FROM CHUCK**

…

A/N: Okay, I seriously was going to add another scene after what I had from the preview. But by the time I went through and reworded some things and fixed some grammar mistakes, I was…not wanting to add more. XD Haha. Just more excitement for next chapter though, I'm sure. Lol. This fic'll be a bit fluffier than the other current multi-chap fics, and so obviously not as long. XD It will definitely not be priority either since GWK is most current and I've been writing tE & F for what feels like forever – in reality, only months. Lol. I hope you enjoyed this beginning nonetheless, and will continue to read. =) Please review!


	2. Lack of Preparation

A/N: The reviews I've gotten for my fics…have been waning. I'm going to blame it on summer vacations. XD Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! (I've outlined the fic. Less than 10 chapters.)

*I don't own anything. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.2—Lack of Preparation**

It had seemed particularly odd that she hadn't picked up _or_ returned his phone calls. He didn't know what to make of it, but decided to brush it off for the time being. She had seemed a little anxious lately, but he was sure after a night of Chuck lovin' she'd be home free. He smirked to himself at the thought. Curing Blair of her abnormal anxiety wouldn't be the only reason he'd get some extra pleasure tonight. They'd gone one night without sex since they'd been married and it didn't bode well for their moods the following day. He did not plan on _repeating_ that mistake. Besides, they were only three years into their marriage and it was like they'd been married yesterday. Chuck could never keep a smile off his face when he thought of Blair Waldorf, _his_ Mrs. Bass.

"Honey, I'm home," he said smugly as he waltzed casually into the kitchen. Blair was nowhere in sight and so he took the time to flip through the mail sitting in its perfect stacked pile on the edge of the counter. "Blair," he called out again, the words on the envelopes never even registering as he continued to flip through. "I've got…" he paused momentarily to think of a good lure. "cookies," he said seductively.

As if by magic, Mrs. Blair Bass herself appeared from the shadows of the hallway and swayed towards her husband. Chuck set the pile of letters back on the counter, hardly registering the fact as his gaze shifted to his wife's curves and finally up to her glorious dark brown depths.

"Cookies, Bass? Really?" she teased.

"Your eyes," he said smoothly, grasping hold of her hand and pulling her to him once she was within reach, "are the most beautiful I've ever seen them."

"But cookies?" she asked again, refusing to let bygones be bygones with his ignorance of her response. Her raised eyebrows were clearly making an impression on him because his full lips slipped into a happier-than-is-healthy smile.

"We can eat them later," he assured her, leaning his head down for a kiss. Her hands grasped his shoulders, but she pulled away hardly a second after he attempted to deepen the kiss. It was odd to him, and he was definitely not pleased, but he let it go once more. _Perhaps, she wanted to talk._

"Did you do anything interesting today?" he asked, as she turned to go around the kitchen counter. She hesitated for one second too long.

"Just miss you terribly," she said, with an adoring wife smile on her face. He almost fell into the trap. His brows furrowed a beat later.

"I called you twice. You didn't answer."

"I…I was busy," she said. He didn't miss the stutter.

"You didn't call back," he pressed.

"My phone was off," she insisted. He looked at her strangely and she knew without even having to think it through that she'd fallen into his trap. "Okay, okay, I've just been…thinking…about things," she said, hoping he'd believe it this time. She always had an eye for new ideas.

Chuck looked at her a bit skeptically but then seemed to give in. "And just what have you been thinking," he said, relaxing slightly as he leaned against the counter.

She pursed her lips. "Well," She walked back over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was half tempted to ask him if he wanted to try to have a baby. If he reacted well to that sentiment than Dan's idiot interruption to her day could easily be forgotten. But, she resisted. It had taken Chuck a whole year to confess his love to her. Nothing had been stressing him out recently and she did not want to be the one to make the switch to unbearable thoughts. She knew he'd be scared of death at the thought of her pregnant. He loved her. He did not want to take the chance his mother had in giving birth and dying in the process.

"Do you want to go out tonight?" she asked cheerfully, arching an eyebrow. He looked at her like she was a silly little girl asking for a lollipop.

"I'd do anything with you, love." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. This time she allowed him to deepen the kiss. It was so very mesmerizing to kiss him like this. She held just enough willpower to contemplate further actions of how she would keep the news of what had happened that day from him. He always read her so easily, but he could probably not pull out _specifics_.

"There's something else though," he breathed roughly as they finally broke the kiss. For a moment she panicked, thinking miraculously he must have discovered her hidden secret.

"What is it?" she asked, her fingers curling at the hairs at the nape of his neck.

He pulled a folded brochure outside his inner jacket pocket. Her brows furrowed as she stepped away just enough to see what he was showing her.

"I'm going on a business trip," he said. She told herself she shouldn't be worried. He went on business trips all the time.

"When?" she asked.

"In about eight or nine months, I should think."

Her eyes widened. She was beyond grateful that he didn't catch her reaction.

"For how long?" she inquired.

"Probably a couple weeks."

"Oh God." She turned away from him, searching her mind desperately for an answer. She knew he'd never leave if he knew she was pregnant. _Was she planning on keeping it a secret forever?_

"I know." He seemed oblivious. _Chuck was never oblivious_. "I can't wait for it. It's really going to do Bass Inc. some good, going to up the ratings about 20%." He smirked. "Blair?"

She turned back around, dazzling smile back in place. "That's wonderful, Chuck." She leaned in to kiss him again. "I'm going to go change for dinner, okay?"

He looked at her, curious as to her behavior, but nodded. "Should I join you?" he asked a beat later. Horrified by the thought of having him so close so soon after his announcement, Blair spun around with her hands up in a stopping motion.

"No!"

Chuck was taken aback. She immediately recovered though, laughing a little nervously.

"You already look wonderful," she said, running a hand down the front of his jacket. He grasped her write and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. She forced herself to look completely calm, and did not pull away too soon.

_Love you_, he mouthed. Her smile stretched, but not far enough. The sparkle she tried to put into her eyes utterly failed. She was sure of it. But there were no more questions. Chuck released her, and once out of sight, she bolted for the bedroom.

…

She was about to explode. If Chuck missed the signs, he was a complete idiot. No one could have been as obvious as she was, and she knew she'd need some serious help – or at least some time – before she could actually appear like nothing was the matter. Somehow she'd gotten away with _sleeping_ on the way home, so she could avoid talking to him.

"Blair," he whispered softly, as they reached their destination. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. He looked incredibly concerned, and she felt trap. _How the hell was she supposed to get out of this?_ She was half tempted to call up Humphrey and give him a piece of her mind. This was clearly all his fault.

She smiled sleepily, proud of herself for pulling it off. "Hey," she said, her hand lightly reaching up to touch his face. He sighed, worried and on the verge of aggravation. He picked her up and carried her from the car to their penthouse suite on the top floor.

"You didn't have to do that." She snuggled closer to him, her face getting lost in the space hidden beneath the collar of his jacket. Chuck promptly dropped her two seconds later and moved toward the bar, pulling out a bottle of scotch and pouring himself some in a glass. Luckily for Blair, her instincts had snapped to attention the second she felt his arms releasing her even a fraction of an inch. She landed gracefully on her stilettos – _miraculously_.

"Want some?" he asked casually, staring intently at his half-filled scotch glass as if it were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

"You had wine at dinner," she said point-blank, as if she didn't understand; as if _she_ was the one being left in the dark all afternoon and evening.

"I know."

"Chuck, what is going on?" she walked towards him hesitantly. It had taken great effort to keep from sounding like a complaining little kid being refused chocolate before dinner.

Chuck's eyes lifted to hers, as he set down the glass. "You tell me." His hands sunk into his pockets as he turned to her. "We went to dinner – at a strip club."

She blinked. "You said it turns you on," she said, like it was a perfectly justifiable explanation. "I was just trying to do something nice."

"Ha!" He looked to the ceiling, clearly in disbelief over the situation. Then, he looked back to Blair. "Do you, or do you not remember me refusing a stripper at my bachelor party because I've only ever wanted you, and our engagement made that all the more real."

Her gaze was steady on his. _She would not falter. _"What else was wrong?" she asked.

"You didn't have wine. You didn't have any alcohol. You had _water_."

Her lips parted momentarily; then, she gained her nerve. "A girl can have water once in awhile," she scoffed, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. He did not even so much as alter his gaze to her now more obvious cleavage.

"A girl can, but you usually don't."

Her lips slipped into a pout, but she could not force a single tear to aid her in this fight. Chuck sighed testily and ran a hand through his hair. He slipped out of his jacket and came around the bar, straight towards her. He gripped her arms fiercely.

"Please just tell me what's going on, Blair. You're acting…weird, and I know you've been stressed. If you don't tell me, I'll figure it out on my own, and then—"

She cut him off with a hot and heavy kiss that he almost couldn't resist.

"Blair—" He just barely got away with his life.

"I _have_ been stressed. You're right." She nodded, her deep brown eyes pouring into his. A few more moments of her _honest confessions_ and he was gone. "I'm sorry I made such a scene tonight, suggested the weirdest things…" She shook her head, irritated with herself.

Chuck cupped the side of her face with his hand. "Hey," he said softly. She stopped shaking her head and looked at him. "It's okay," he said. He used his other hand to wrap one of her silky curls behind her ear.

Her pursed lips smiled at him a little. She was trying so very hard to be brave, from whatever aspect it was looked at. Slowly, Chuck lowered his head again and brushed his lips against hers. Their lips played a gentle, innocent kiss for what seemed like forever. Then, she felt Chuck's hand slipping down the bare back left free of her dress, and run across her skin. She shuddered in his arms at the warm contact. She sighed into him. _Maybe this was exactly what she needed_. And it would definitely give her more time. She could leave before he woke up and contemplate her next move. She could come up with the _perfect_ story.

"We should have stayed in," he groaned against her mouth. Her lips quirked up into a coy smile. Her fingers toyed with the first couple buttons on his shirt before slowly undoing each of them. She could feel him going hard against her stomach. Her smile spread further. She loved sexy, needy Chuck.

"Chuck," she whispered hotly in his ear, slipping the now unbuttoned shirt off of his shoulders and onto the floor. Chuck grunted, and she had to try very hard not to chuckle. "Make love to me," she whispered.

His eyes were dark, more intense than she'd ever seen them when she pulled back far enough to see the expression on his face due to her request. There were no words. The zipper being pulled the short distance down her dress was the only sound in the entire room. A soft _thump_ alerted the floor to its new inhabitant. Without breaking their stare, Blair reached for Chuck's belt. She tugged at it, pulling him closer. The heat emanating off of Chuck was so palpable she thought she would drown in it. She looked down only briefly to unbuckle him and slide the belt out of its loops. It plopped down onto the floor to join her dress and his shirt. She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, but before she'd even released the zipper, she felt Chuck's hands encircling hers. She released her hold on the little metal piece. She looked up into the eyes and knew with an undeniable certainty that she wouldn't be able to look anywhere else for a very long time. The passion exploded. Chuck's hands wrapped around Blair's face at the very moments his mouth lunged for hers. She was lost in him – completely. The problem her day had revolved around vanished the second Chuck started kissing her. _He loved her so much._

Her mind didn't let her analyze what that meant for her – for the person inside her. She just let him kiss her, and touch her like no one else could, or ever would. His hands running all over her and inside her made her nearly scream. Her nails ran down his back with such intensity, she was sure there would be marks. The shivers of his climax made her forget her own name. His cries of exultation were the only reminder. She thought she would explode in the fire they'd created.

…

A/N: You're welcome. Lol. Please review. =)


	3. Secrets, Secrets

A/N: Wow, I've gotten such a good response with this, better than any of my other stories. XD And it's not even current or constantly updated! XD You guys are all so wonderful. Thank-you.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement.

…

**Ch.3—Secrets, Secrets**

"You're _pregnant_?"

"Shh!" Blair nearly spat at her best friend. She looked around conspicuously, as if Chuck was just around the corner, or God forbid – Gossip Girl. Sometimes the cyber-witch still sneakily appeared with blasts on their phones. It was quite annoying, since high school had long since been over – in most respects.

"B," Serena began, placing a hand over one of hers. "You've got to tell him. I would think you'd want to!" She suddenly sounded very bewildered by Blair's decision to withhold the _secret_ information from her husband. The brunette's head finally spun back around to look at the blonde's imploring blue depths. There did not seem to be even that many customers at the outdoor café. She sighed.

"I can't, S. Not after what Humphrey told me."

Serena rolled her eyes, though a little on edge herself. "Since when do you buy into anything Dan says?"

"Never, not usually…" Serena raised her eyebrows at her. "Well, when it's serious sometimes I consider it!" Blair screeched in quite quiet tones. Her hands flared about in a single wild gesture. Serena smiled slightly in amusement, but rejoined her hand to the other lying close to the edge of the table. "Besides!" she suddenly began, recognition dawning, "_you_ believe what Humphrey says. Why are you questioning what he told _me_?" She laughed, as if she'd won. Serena blinked.

"I do believe him," she said. "I just found it oddly curious that you did too."

Blair sighed, and her head fell into her hands. "I know…" She raised her head. "It's just that anything that concerns Chuck I usually double-think about, if it's coming from someone we've known for awhile. Jack being the exception." She grimaced, an anger briefly firing in her.

"B," Serena broke through her thoughts, the image of Jack's cocky face shattering instantly. She looked up at her. "This should be a _good_ thing, a _happy_ thing. I can't imagine Chuck being anything but ecstatic about the fact that the _woman_ he _loves_ more than _anything_ is carrying _his_ child," she said slowly, emphasizing the points that she knew her best friend should be taking most seriously, reminding her of what Chuck truly valued more in the world. She gave a supportive smile to encourage her further. Still, Blair looked uneasy.

Serena's brows furrowed in concern. "Tell me everything that happened again." Blair nodded, looking very exhausted. She consented to her best friend's wish and retold the tale, since she'd found out she was pregnant the day before.

"It's possible you're _not_ pregnant," Serena offered up. Blair's eyes suddenly filled with tears, but not one dribbled out onto her cheeks. Serena felt something inside her clench tightly. She was trying to help, but it seemed nothing she could think of to suggest only made Blair upset. "Did you _take_ more than one test?"

"No." She shook her head sadly, her eyes glued to her slowly fiddling fingers on the edge of the table. Then, as if by magic, she looked up at her best friend, her eyes aglow, but not possibly from a genuinely cheery emotion. "You're probably right." She crossed her arms on the table, hardly noticing when the pressure she applied created designs from the open metal design. "I'm probably not even pregnant." She shook her head, forcing a laugh. "Can you imagine if I had told Chuck I was?" She laughed – completely forced. "Even if what I took from Dan had been right, and Chuck might have lost control or been extremely vulnerable, insecure, maybe even demanding an abortion—"

"B!" Serena interrupted, horrified by the possibility that Chuck would demand such a thing out of Blair. Her best friend had clearly been having a panic attack since she'd accidentally called Dan and the news had been broken. Mentally, Serena scolded her ex-boyfriend for his untimely announcements.

Blair continued talking as if she hadn't heard her. "Or, the more anticipated response," she sighed, thinking about it, now sounding sad in the conviction that it wasn't even possible. "Him being beyond excited…" Her lip almost trembled. She knew she was close to letting her façade fall away. The image of Chuck's eyes glowing, unable to control his happiness over the news of her pregnant stuck in her mind. She wanted it to be real. She sighed again. "Well, neither is now possible, since I'm not pregnant." She nodded, trying to be proud of her conclusion.

Serena shook her head and took her hand again. "You don't know that, B."

Blair sighed again, a bit in annoyance. "I suppose you're right. It's very possible it will happen again and he'll be furious I did not take proper precautions." She grumbled, slouching back into her chair. Serena forced a huge puff of air to be restrained from escaping her mouth. Her best friend was being so completely overly difficult. What frustrated _her_ even more was the fact that only Blair herself would bring her out of it. It was possible Chuck could do the same too, but not if she wouldn't let him know what the problem actually was.

"Blair!" Exasperated, Serena flung her hands flat out as far as they could go across the table. She was epically failing at trying to get her attention. It was the only way left that she could think of. Blair jumped a bit and looked up at her best friend in surprise.

"Yes, S?" Her surprise died down immediately to be replaced with the most fake innocence she'd ever seen. She was burying herself in a heap of lies to cover her vulnerability and fear. Serena would have none of it, if she could help it.

"Good Lord," she muttered. Blair tilted her head in confusion. "B." She took her hand and enclosed it in both of her own. "Go home. Take the test again. And then tell Chuck about everything."

Blair sighed testily, shaking her head, still clearly unwilling to break free of her façade. She pried Serena's hands off of hers and straightened in her seat. "I don't think that will be necessary. I will go home though, and I will take a nap." The brunette's fake smile was really starting to irritate her.

"Because you're tired?" She quirked an eyebrow. "From—"

"Because I'm tired." She cut her off. "Chuck and I were up late last night." She smiled seductively, delighting in the memory. "And, I will take extra precautions," she nodded, pulling herself out of her memories. Serena shook her head at the new itinerary.

"Just take the test one more time."

"No," she snapped. "First ones are faulty all the time," she insisted. Serena would have found the logic amusing, based on Blair's earlier complaints, if she had not already been so frustrated.

"And what about when you start having morning sickness? You know Chuck won't think it's just the flu." She eyed her tightly, and could see that a bit of vulnerability was seeping onto her best friend's face. She was relieved. "He's going to think you relapsed."

Blair cleared her throat evenly. "No, he won't."

Serena almost smirked at how she was caving in to the fact that she _was_ still probably pregnant. "And when a baby bump appears?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It won't!" She jumped to her feet. A couple heads turned, but none of them continued to watch, and Blair was too fired up to search out any possible predators. "Because I'm not pregnant," she ground out, moving away from the table and signaling to the waiter that the individual still at the table would be paying. Serena sighed and dutifully handed over her credit card. She groaned at the sound of Blair's heels clacking down the sidewalk.

….

Chuck hoped that the ding of the elevator would bring his lovely wife prancing towards him, sweeping him up in a passionate kiss like the night before. Much to his chagrin, she did not come to him, and soon he noticed that she was contently sleeping on the couch. He sighed and shook his head, placing the mail he'd found on the counter, deciding to flip through it later.

He leaned over the edge of the couch, gazing down at her. Lightly, he brushed a tendril of hair out of her face. In her sleep, she nudged his fingers with her nose. He smiled, a fluttering blossoming inside of him. Reluctantly, he took his hand away from her soft, exquisite skin and walked around to a chair across from her.

He watched her breathe evenly, hardly moving a muscle. _She's so beautiful_, he thought. _And she's all mine_. He couldn't help smiling. He loved her so much, and had an overwhelming desire right then to wake her up, just so he could hold her in his arms and watch her loving him in those deep brown eyes. He had missed it this morning when her side of the bed had been vacated. He'd frowned, groaned, and then accepted the inevitable. He had to shower and get to work. _She'd probably gone shopping_, he told himself. It had been an enjoyably rough night between them but they'd had 'worse'. He wasn't even sore.

Regardless of what had probably been Blair's key reason for leaving so early, Chuck was sure she'd be home just after lunch, and he'd been right. He'd never caught her _napping_ after a shopping endeavor though. He wondered if it'd been particularly tiresome. She stirred a little and his face lit up just a little, hoping she could greet him with that silly smile on her face he always got just after she woke. But, nothing came of it. She only turned her face away from his, so it burrowed into the couches cushion, her entire body turning with it. He sighed. As much as he enjoyed taking in her backside from the position he was sitting, he knew there was no way she'd be waking any time soon, and that was what he really wanted. He stood to his feet and walked across the room, deciding now was as good a time as any to flip through the probably useless mail that had been delivered to them that day.

He heard her moan just as she was passing, and he could have sworn her eyes flickered open for one spare moment, but when he directed his eyes directly towards her, he saw nothing. He wondered briefly if she was teasing him, but decided now was not the best time to use his always seductive techniques on her if she was in fact in need of extra rest. He reached the countertop where he'd dumped the mail and concluded that there was nothing of use and it needed to be thrown out immediately. He moved around the kitchen to the garbage, which he found, unfortunately, to be full. He did not intend to empty it and deposit to some far off place located somewhere in the building. He did not want his own floors being tainted either. So, he pushed the garbage back to its place under the sink, and moved to the next possible depository – the bathroom trashcan.

Probably too confidently, he headed towards the large tiled room. He made it to the trashcan, hardly looking as he dropped the junk mail into its proper destination. He heard a _clunk_ when he did so, however, and though common sense told him it was nothing but whatever had been last thrown in there, an intuition that hardly ever made itself useful pounded into him, telling him he should investigate. He nearly left the room, convinced that he'd be a complete idiot to dig through the bathroom garbage can when he couldn't even be daring enough to push down the last of what had been tossed into the kitchen garbage to get rid of the nonsense mail. Still, the feeling gnawed at him relentlessly. Painfully slow, he walked back over to the trash can and lifted the mail that seemed to be causing him more trouble than it was worth. He nearly lost his grip on it when he saw what lie beneath.

A pregnancy test. _Positive_.

He reeled back, shock exploding on his face. His eyes were widened and he was gaping. At that moment, he was honestly speechless. If Blair came in right then, he didn't know whether he could even really be concerned, excited, or furious that she'd kept it from him. He just stayed there, crouched on the bathroom floor, not knowing what to think.

Eventually, the drowning shock wore off, and he stood to his feet. With the pregnancy test between two fingers, he stood to his feet, dropped the mail back to into the trashcan and walked to the mirror. He raised his head to look in the mirror, realizing that the jolt that had run through him had not completely disappeared.

"_Pregnant_," he mouthed to the mirror. "She's pregnant." His voice was gone, but he got out a raspy whisper as he ran a hand through his thick head of hair. He backed up until he hit the wall behind him and looked around the room in some hope of finding some sort of normalcy to calm himself. He wished Blair had just told him. No wonder she'd been acting weird the night before. She was probably nervous to break the news. _But, why?_ He would have been ecstatic. _Was she afraid he didn't want a baby running around?_ Again, the only word that came to his mind was _ecstatic_. It wasn't like they'd have trouble finding time to make love. He smirked, finally coming to his senses and moving to open the door just a crack so he could see her lying snugly on the couch. He always had a talent for finding the most wonderful locations, where they could spend hours just glorying in each other and the fragrance and feel of their bodies.

But he wouldn't say a word till she told him. She probably wanted to surprise him and he wouldn't steal that bit of happiness from her. It was what every wife anticipated, he imagined. Knowing Blair, she would set up the perfect evening to lead up to it, and his joy would overflow even more than it just had when he saw the look in her eyes when she said it. His heart thumped in overdrive just thinking about it. He grabbed a tissue and wrapped up the pregnancy test, tucking it away with him until further notice. He decided not to think too heavily on the fact that his wife's _pee_ was on it. It was all symbolism.

A part of him told him a picture would be just as good – it would be disinfected and last longer. He decided to ignore that bit of logic. He deposited the wrapped up pregnancy test in the depths of one of his "secret things" boxes. Even Blair didn't know where he kept them.

…

A/N: Thoughts? Please review! =D


	4. Recycling Suggestions

A/N: It's been forever, guys. Sorry. But in my defense, I told you this fic wouldn't be much of a priority. Heh. Hope you enjoy. Please review. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.4—Recycling Suggestions**

Three days. It had been _three days_ since he'd found the pregnancy stick in the bathroom trashcan. And she hadn't said anything. _Nothing_. He was starting to worry; and he seriously didn't know how much longer he could hold out. _How long do women usually wait for this type of thing? Don't they usually want to do it immediately because they can't hold in their excitement?_ It certainly didn't seem that way in Chuck's case. Thus, he concluded that he had fallen into a deep black hole of extremely bad luck.

It wasn't as if she was really around much for him to pick up signals on either. She'd been absent from the house almost every second he was home, and when she was around she was mostly asleep on the couch. The constant napping he guessed was part of her new condition, but, unless she was planning for some huge party to announce the bundle of joy in her stomach, he could not concoct a reasonable explanation as to why she would be so absent around the house. And besides, wouldn't she have wanted to tell him _first_ before making the announcement to a whole bunch of people? It didn't make sense to him. He'd even stopped working as many hours so he could catch her at home when she was otherwise preoccupied, but it hadn't done much good. Also, the lack of sex was killing him. He was going on empty since their wild night half a week ago. That was extremely abnormal for them. He was used to at least twice a day. The member in his pants was particularly disappointed. _Weren't pregnant women supposed to be in overdrive horny state constantly?_

To put it nicely, he had gotten extremely edgy. Only one possibility had developed into his head and he didn't want to believe it, had ignored it as much as humanly possible. Still, it kept popping up. Positive pregnancy test. Thrown away. Not telling him. Hardly home. No sex. Was she…_cheating _on him? The thought alone swallowed him whole, like a brick had just been dropped into his stomach from the top of the Empire State Building. He trusted Blair with all his being, was madly in love her, would do anything for her, and certainly never held back in bed. What reason could she have to cheat on him? And, who in the world could she be cheating on him with? If it was Nate, he'd officially cut ties with him for good, but common sense told him that the only girl that Nate would ever cheat with was Serena Van der Woodsen. Nate was a player, but he played by the rules, and he hadn't cheated on anyone since his relationship with Blair had fallen apart – the _first_ time around. Besides, he knew his best friend had a girlfriend – Macy something. That immediately ruled him out.

Chuck sighed and walked across the empty living room. The drapes were closed. He'd woken up with Blair gone and the drapes had been closed. He hadn't opened them. He'd walked into the living room from the bedroom and sat done on the couch, and thought. He'd been sitting there thinking for awhile, too long in fact. And he still hadn't gotten dressed. He hadn't called Blair for at least two hours. The possibility that maybe she would answer at two p.m. was one he was willing to play around with.

"Hello, you've reached Blair Waldorf—I mean, _Bass_!" Her giggles reverberated through him, butterflies welling up from his stomach. He couldn't believe she still hadn't changed her voicemail message since they'd gotten married three years ago. "Leave a message at the beep and if you're worth my time, I'll get back to you," her voice snapped in its natural bitchiness. He chuckled but then sighed when the beep came on. His good mood vanished instantly.

"Blair, _please_ call me back," he tried to say his most normal voice possible. The sigh and groan must have come through throughout it though. "I love you." He closed his phone.

He needed a walk. That's what he needed. He needed to get out into the sunlight and just enjoy New York City. It was a warm day, going off of how bright everything looked since he'd opened the drapes. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and the sidewalks were cluttered with people, some with shopping bags, some with briefcases. Calling Nate now would be a good idea. Out in the sun. Out of the dark. He'd even where a suit, just like he always did.

"Nathaniel!"

"Chuck," Nate replied, sounding amused. "You sound…_enthusiastic_." Chuck forced a soft, sarcastic chuckle.

"I'm just trying to amuse you."

Nate raised his eyebrows. Chuck sighed, deciding not to beat around the bush. He stepped out of the elevator and out into the lobby. When he reached the entry doors, the silence finally began to bother him.

"Have you heard from Blair? Or..seen her?"

"No, I haven't. Sorry, man. Why? Is something up?" he asked. Chuck's jaw clenched. It was so not Nate. The man sucked at lying, and he aced at being confused. Confusion was not something Nate Archibald could fake.

"I…I think she might be pregnant," Chuck said in a hushed voice. He could almost hear Nate's gasp on the other end. For sure he was gaping, smiling a little maybe. Chuck wished he could smile.

"Wow. Really? Tha-That's great, man," Nate said enthusiastically. Chuck rolled his eyes, suddenly very aware of why Nate had found _his_ enthusiasm amusing. He found his best friend's downright annoying.

"Don't get too excited. I'm not sure," he said quickly, his voice still hushed. He cursed himself for it. Who did he think was going to hear? The CIA?

"What do you mean you're not sure? Didn't she tell you?"

"Not exactly," he said far too nonchalantly.

"Chuck."

The brunette sighed. "I found a positive pregnancy test in the trashcan in the bathroom."

"Oh." Chuck did not like the tone of Nate's voice. It was not careless and in no way did it seem to make fun of his best friend's slight nervousness and hushed tone. That was not encouraging.

"It's been three days, and she hasn't said anything. She's been skirting me like the plague and she refuses to sleep with me," he grumbled, still in a hushed tone. Nate raised his eyebrows again.

"She _refuses_ to sleep with you?" he asked doubtfully. From what he'd heard, unless something was seriously wrong, Chuck and Blair had always been humping like bunnies from day one. Chuck scoffed as if he'd just been joking, but the nervous tone to his voice was still very obvious. Nate was beginning to feel like it was _his_ problem he was dealing with.

"Not exactly. I mean, she…" he sighed. "She just, she sleeps all the time. Whenever I'm home, and Nathaniel, I have been home a _lot_ lately."

Nate's brows furrowed. "Well, I'm sure it's not what you think, Chuck."

"And what am I thinking, Nathaniel?" he asked gruffly. He heard Nate sigh but that was all he heard, because right then he saw Dan Humphrey walking towards him though immersed in his own phone conversation. For a good ten seconds he was annoyed that he was even on the same block, but it was the words that he caught from Dan's conversation that made him stop dead in tracks and heat his blood towards violence.

"Look, Blair, you have to tell him," Dan said, oblivious to Chuck watching him and eavesdropping. "I'm sorry for what happened between us, but we can't exactly take it back now. I'm sure he would have told you eventually. I don't know what to tell you…" he sighed. "Of course I won't tell anyone, but…."

Nate voice was getting smaller and smaller as Chuck pulled the phone away, closed it and slid it into his pocket. His eyes were intent on Dan's face which had now paled to a particularly sickly colored white. He had noticed Chuck and stopped three feet away.

_Oh, shit._

Chuck's eyes narrowed and Dan visibly gulped, all thoughts going out the window, Blair's whiny demands evaporating from his mind.

"Blair, I have to go…" he muttered a little absently, shutting his phone and putting it away. He cleared his throat, averted his eyes from Chuck's and trudged on forward, hopeless in his determined endeavor to ignore what had just happened, what Chuck had just seen and probably heard. It was a complete and utter failure. Chuck put out his hand on his chest to stop him, refusing him passage past where he stood on the street.

"Humphrey. How about you and I have a little chat," he suggested calmly. Dan could see in his eyes that he wouldn't take no for an answer, but from an outsider's point of view Chuck had no right to think he had done anything wrong. Still, the words no boyfriend or husband or lover wants to hear slipped out.

"Look, Chuck, it's not what you think."

Chuck's gaze hardened and got very dark. "I think you can spare the time," he said slowly. "We need to catch up. Don't you think?"

…

"What happened?" Serena asked frantically, having desperately been hanging onto every word. She had been the one to persuade her to call Dan. It had been somewhat difficult, but after the hour and a half it took to convince her that seven more positive pregnancy tests equaled her being pregnant, she figured she could probably fit in one more compelling argument. The transformation of Blair Waldorf's face from shock to disbelief to anger to sadness to rage to helplessness just now however was not very reassuring.

"What happened?" she asked again. Blair turned her head towards her.

"He hung up," she said simply.

"What?" Serena asked, confused. Her brows fused together. Blair nodded once and slipped her phone into her purse. She deleted the notification of her most recent missed call and voicemail message. She knew who it was from and she was not prepared to deal with him at a moment like this.

"Yeah, he just…hung up," she said, sounding dazed.

"Well," Serena asked impatiently, "Did he say he wouldn't tell?" Blair turned to look at her bubbly blonde best friend. She snapped out of her daze instantly and her head reared back a little.

"Yeah," she said, looking at her strangely. "But that's beside the point!" she said, exasperated. She shot to her feet from the stone pebbled table they'd found themselves. Serena's eyes widened and she quickly followed her, nearly tripping over the legs of the table in her effort to catch up with the brunette who looked very determined to get as far away as possible as soon as possible.

"Blair! Wait!"

She didn't stop walking. In fact now she was power-walking, as fast as she could in heels that glimmered in the sun. Serena raced to catch up with her. She heard her muttering under her breath but could not interpret any of it. She was huffing and puffing by the time she was walking at equally the same pace, but she froze once again at the sound of very clear words leaving her best friend's lips.

"That's it. I'm just going to have to get an abortion."

Serena was frozen for what felt like an eternity before she pulled herself out of her shock and shrieked her best friend's name. Surprisingly, Blair halted and slowly turned to look at her best friend who was managing once again to reach where she had walked to. She blinked innocently at her though, tilting her head to the side as if what she had suggested was completely normal and not out of the ordinary at all, not for someone who loved Chuck Bass with more than she'd ever thought possible and who – before Dan had said anything – had wanted to have babies and a family with Chuck more than anything in the world. Her heart squeezed at the thought of throwing it all away, but her mind was made up.

"Blair," Serena said, looking hopeless. "Please don't do that."

Blair's face softened slightly. It was obvious that she wasn't going to get quite so swept up in her facades and charades today, especially now that she'd made Serena chase after her for a good far too long block. "What else am I supposed to do?" she asked, her voice as small as ever. Despite the sound of it though, Serena still looked at her bewildered.

"He'll call back," she told her. "He will. You're my best friend and he and I are very close." Blair made no comment, not even to tease her about whatever she had with him. "He will," Serena said very forcefully. She gripped her best friend's arms until her eyes looked up at her. "I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation for leaving, and besides, hadn't he already told you what I told you you should do?" she asked desperately. Blair did not catch the desperate tones. She just blinked. Serena sighed. "You'll regret it if you give up this baby," she said, her hands relaxing on her best friend's arms. "I know you will."

Blair gave a shaky sigh and moved away from Serena who let her go easily, watching her every move with extreme caution and weariness. "I'm not telling Chuck," she said, taking a deep breath and starting to walk down the street again. Serena's face fell again and her jaw dropped. She followed after her best friend.

"B, you have to _tell_ him," she pleaded with her. Blair kept walking, and near the corner of the street, she hailed for a taxi. Serena's eyes widened. She hastened to catch up with her best friends, in disbelief that with her longer legs and less high heels that she could actually manage to fall behind Blair Waldorf. Then again she had always been more laid back and less determined, forceful or anything else of that nature.

"Blair, wait! _Stop_!"

Blair's hand lowered just as the taxi came. Serena exhaled loudly, very much out of breath. She was about to stop in front of her to slip into the cab first when she noticed Blair staring off into the distance, first looking confused and then absolutely horrified. Serena looked across the street and her jaw dropped. Blair whipped her head around to glare at the blonde.

"Since when does Dan do his shopping on the Upper East Side?" she demanded. Serena's eyes flashed to hers.

"Since his _father_ married my _mother_!" she snapped back. Blair was fuming, and that was when she realized that of the two of them, she was probably the one most able to stay calm and in control of the situation. She took a deep breath. "Didn't you ask him where he was when you called him?" she asked carefully. Blair's brows narrowed.

"And why would I ask a stupid question like that?" she asked, her hand moving about in a flippant gesture. Serena sighed, taking a deep breath. Blair turned her face away again and looked glaringly across the street. Dan had glanced at them once while Chuck was apparently going off at him about something – Blair hoped it was just because he didn't think he belong in the UES, but very strong intuition told her otherwise. Of course, now he would get both of their wraths, because instead of doing the smart thing and looking back at Chuck like he hadn't seen a thing and just wanted to get away, he did a double-take, one that was long enough to get Chuck to stop talking and turn around…and see _them_.

Blair swallowed hard at Chuck's narrowed brows. He didn't even call out to her, and he certainly didn't look at her in surprise. Serena felt very restless in the air separating her from Blair. She looked to her best friend several times with the need of instructions for what they should do. The street was busy now, but it wouldn't be forever.

"If we run, Chuck will know I'm hiding something," Blair said very quietly. Serena swallowed and nodded slowly.

"So, what do we do?" she asked finally, her voice just as low and quiet. She turned to her best friend. Blair turned to look behind them, analyzing all of their options. A somewhat classy boutique appeared to be right on the corner. She smiled slyly and looked at Serena, her eyes now lit with satisfaction. Serena looked very wary, as she always did when her best friend had concocted a scheme that would put everyone involved at risk.

"We go shopping!" she cheered, grabbing her best friend's hand and dragging her into the store. The second they were inside, the street sign for walk lit up and a determined Chuck strode across the black pavement, a gangly Dan Humphrey attempting to keep up behind him.

…

A/N: Omg. I'm SO sorry it's taken me so long to update ANYTHING. I really am. *sigh* I've just gotten so…distracted. *shakes head at self* I really will try to update WN by tomorrow night tops though. *nods* Please review this while you wait. ;p


	5. Fury of the Bass

A/N: I have to redo the entire rest of this story on my outline. *sigh* B/c I realized I could just about finish all of it in this chapter, and I think you'd find it awfully anticlimactic, so I'm going to have to reconcoct some sort of dual SL. Lol. You can thank **Krazy4Spike** for me updating this btw. It was much farther down for updating on my fic writing schedule, but I am simply too easily persuaded. XD

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

….

**Ch.5—Fury of the Bass**

Chuck stopped abruptly when they reached the other side of the street. Dan nearly ran into him. Chuck turned and faced him, clearly finding the next task he felt he had to do as the most annoying thing of the planet. He sighed a bit testily and looked at the born and bred Brooklynite as if he had some sort of contagious disease. His eyes narrowed and it was clear Dan was now either wary of himself and the situation or preparing himself for an attack from the infamous Chuck Bass.

"What?" he asked, finally unable to take another second of the persistent analyzing stare.

"I don't know what the hell you were doing talking about some secrets to my wife when I've hardly been able to get a hello out of her for the past three days, but if you don't listen to everything I tell you and do as I say, then you're going to have a lot worse things coming to you than some…verbal abuse from yours truly."

Dan watched him as he turned and walked away, heading towards the store they'd seen the girls walk into. He considered his options briefly – run like hell or unnervingly follow Chuck into the small boutique. He decided for the latter. There was no doubt in his mind that his _step-brother_ could make his life a living hell. Chuck held grudges like it was nobody's business. He was probably even still pissed that he'd been using his vulnerable state to create a story that might have jumpstarted his future career as a writer. It didn't matter that he hadn't gone through with it. Chuck probably didn't even know, and at this point he wouldn't care. He wondered if he'd even care then.

Dan walked after Chuck up to the building. The billionaire stopped abruptly in front of him again. He was thrown off kilter again, but made to gain some sense of being on top of it for the sake of Chuck's temper.

"One more thing, Humphrey."

"_Yes_?" he drawled out, his tone sarcastic. Chuck did not seem to notice, which was good, since Dan considered later that it may have been a bad idea – to push him.

"Go around to the back door," he ordered.

His brows furrowed. "Why?"

"I told you to take orders, didn't I?" he threatened. Dan scoffed without thinking. He tended not to think twice when he opened his mouth. When he did, his mouth was often left hanging open and then he sounded and _looked_ even _more_ stupid.

"All I'm asking for is an explanation, Chuck. Could you not go so _parent-y _on me with your 'because I said so'?" he raised his eyebrows with his bit of a taunt. Then he realized how he had hinted at maybe the subject of what was behind all the tension surrounding Chuck and Blair. Hinting at Blair's pregnancy in front of Chuck when she hadn't even told him herself would probably be one of the stupidest things he could do. If Chuck was aware of the unintentional hint though, he showed nothing of it besides a brief fleeting hate-filled glance. But that could mean anything.

"Blair isn't going to be waiting in there for my interrogation. There's a reason she hasn't been around lately, and I can't be two places at once when she tries to escape."

He started heading into the store again. Dan watched him for a few lingering seconds, trying to comprehend the whole of the situation and hoping that in doing so he'd be able to speak appropriately once the next person approached him. Serena would probably be of help if he needed to keep Blair from running off, but besides that he had nothing to hold her on. Telling her he was there with Chuck was not only something she probably already knew but would anger her further. Of course hanging up on her minutes earlier didn't help the situation either. Heaving one exhaustive sigh, he made his way to the back of the building.

Chuck scanned the whole of the store once he'd stepped inside the door. It definitely was not someplace Blair would usually ago. The place was filled with half-chipped antiques. Not that he'd thought she was interested in the store anyways. She'd seen the run-in he'd had with Dan and had panicked, dragging Serena along with her. It had been a split-second decision from what he could tell. Not only was the store not at all what she would even approve of, but they were the only people inside the place. He cleared his throat loudly and nearly smirked as the sound of Blair and Serena's rapid chatting ceased in the back of the room.

"Blair!" he called out to her, moving around from hall to hall, acting like he didn't see her. She shifted from each hall and if he was not so pissed as to why she'd been avoiding him that ironically had to do with Dan Humphrey, he might have actually been smirking. He paused briefly to analyze one of the items on a cluttered shelf. He muttered something under his breath about how exquisite it looked, but he wasn't quite sure if he should purchase it. The clerk from the counter clearly had overheard him, as was Chuck's intention.

"Can I help you with something, Sir?" the gray-haired old man asked, walking towards him. Chuck smiled politely.

"Yes. I was wondering if you had more of these?"

"More?" the man asked, flabbergasted. Chuck's expression remained unmoved.

"Yes. More. In the back, perhaps?"

"Sir." The man cleared his throat. "I know who you are and I greatly appreciate even your presence in this shop, but these are antiques," he said delicately. "What you see here on the shelves is what is available to you."

Slowly, Chuck smiled – albeit politely. For his size and his age and his manners, the old man still held his ground. "Thank-you, Sir," he said. "If I find anything I desire I will bring it to the check-out for purchasing."

The man smiled warmly. "Yes, Sir," he said, and scampered away. Chuck contemplated briefly on asking the man to inform him if any girls flew out the front door, but decided against it. He'd be well aware of his wife and sister decided to make a run for it via the entrance he'd come in through, especially since the store wasn't that big to begin with, and neither were the walls of shelves holding various antique items. He could see the top of Serena's blonde head of hair from where he stood. Her body even swayed a bit into the aisle.

"I can wait as long as it takes, Blair," he said. Serena froze, and he gathered Blair did too. Chuck leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. He felt a light stare along the side of his face and looked in the direction of the old man before the counter who gestured towards the girls at the other end of the store. Chuck smiled assuredly. The man pointed to himself and then them, silently asking if he wanted to get them at the front. Chuck shook his head. It was far more enjoyable watching them squirm until they finally had to confront him.

…

Fifteen minutes later and all four of them were outside and in front of the store. As predicted, the girls tried to make their escape through the back door. Chuck delayed a few moments, buying a tiny antique for the old man's sake. He was sure the man didn't get visitors often. It was the least he could do for his offering to get his girls out into the open. As also expected, Dan could not hold back Blair from bolting. It was the combined act of both Dan and Serena and him when he made it outside again that got her to stay put. She probably thought running off at that point would blow her cover, he guessed. Not that it wasn't already blown to some degree.

"Blair."

She turned around in casual flurry, and looked at him in semi-shock. He was half amused.

"Chuck?" she asked, sounding surprised. Serena looked at her in disbelief and then rolled her eyes, putting her head in her hand. Dan shifted a bit uncomfortably, clearly wanting to get out of there. "What are you doing—" She stopped mid-question when he reached where the three of them stood, serious stare implanted on his face. He wasn't looking at anyone but her. The tension had clearly intensified and Serena gestured to Dan that maybe they should leave.

"Stay," Chuck said without looking away from his wife. Dan and Serena were clearly uncomfortable with the idea of staying but they weren't about to disobey his orders. He had a right to be angry and/or suspicious. Both individuals had told this to Blair from the start. She'd denied their _good advice_, as was typical for her.

"It's not what you think," she said, taking a step towards him, pressing her hand on his arm somewhat affectionately. He didn't budge. His hands remained firmly tucked into his pants' pockets.

"And what is it that I think?" he asked curiously, sarcasm lacing his every word. She gulped visibly but her face cleared almost instantly afterwards. She released his arm and took a small step back. "Why haven't you been home?" he asked her before she had a chance to explain herself. He wasn't about to let her spill out lies to him. She couldn't answer him right away and that meant she'd done something he would hate to know about. Better now than later. Then he could recover and maybe they could work things out. Right now he was pissed that she had lied to him, had kept something of obvious great significance in the dark.

"I-I've been with Serena."

"_Every day_ with Serena?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. He was seething. "Every waking moment with Serena?"

"You know that's not true," she said, getting defensive. Dan and Serena tensed, desperately wanted to get away. No one in their right mind would want to be this close to a Chuck and Blair takedown. They'd most surely get swept up in the heat of it all. Since they had to stay put though, it was probably in their best interest to stay silent. They didn't even look at each other, but they both swelled with unbearable heat.

"_Isn't_ it?" He nearly growled. Whenever I'm home, you're either sleeping or 'out with Serena'," he mocked. Her brows narrowed, but he wasn't finished. "And I have been home a lot more than I used to be. I've been taking off several hours each day just to be home with you, just to be with you, because it felt like we hardly were with each other anymore." He sighed. His hands came out of their pockets, sweating with the anxiety he was feeling. "But that didn't change anything," he said quietly. He took a deep breath and looked piercingly into her eyes, waiting for some sort of sign from her, some proof that the conclusions he was jumping to were the wrong ones.

"Can we go somewhere else to talk about this?" she asked very quietly. His face fell. So it was as he'd feared. _No_, he told himself. _Nothing was for sure. He needed proof_. Even if she told him something, she could be lying to shield from something else, to protect him. It'd been done before, certainly he'd done it. When they were in the midst of petty little fights, she reminded him of those torturous times.

"Why?" he asked just as softly, suddenly somewhat aware of the all-consuming uncomfortable heat coming off of Dan and Serena. "Is there something you're _ashamed_ to tell me? Something you've been hiding that you don't want me to know about?" Her bottom lip trembled but he ignored it. He would console her later after he'd calmed down if her secret turned out to be really bad, as bad as he was guessing, as the light sweat sliding down his face suggested.

She didn't answer, only looked frightened to death. His hand formed into a tight fist at his side, but he forced himself to loosen it. He just had to release the aching tension inside him. His heart was pounding so heavily, so quick inside him. He thought he was going to lose control, wanted to just walk into the middle of the street and let himself get hit by a semi. If Blair was cheating on him, he would completely lose it. He wouldn't be able to handle such betrayal.

"Give me your phone," he demanded. She stood there, unable to move. He looked down and noticed it was in her hand. He snapped it away and flipped through her recent messages, recent calls, her responses to texts…before she – or Dan and Serena – could retaliate.

**I can't tell him.**

**-B**

**You have to. He has a right to know about what happened between us the other day.**

**-D**

He swallowed visibly. His hand clenched tightly around the phone, his fingers digging into the sides.

**It was a mistake, Dan. I can fix it on my own.**

**-D**

**B, please tell him. He'll understand.**

**-S**

**He'll kill me, but I can tell him if you want.**

**-D**

**No! He has to hear it from me.**

**-B**

He looked up at her. Her eyes evaded him like the plague. Dan and Serena looked away as well, all confirming to him the awful truth. He turned the phone so it faced her, and waited until she looked at it and then briefly at him.

"Do I _want_ to know what this _mistake_ was?" he asked, his voice dark as night, vicious beneath the surface. "What _exactly_ is it that I need to _hear from you_, _Blair_?" She was blinking back tears. He couldn't make himself consider that fact, not at this moment. If he did, he'd start blaming himself for making her cry, and then he'd never get the truth out of her. If she crumbled when this conversation was over, he knew he could count on Serena to make her feel better.

"Chuck, I wanted to tell you—"

He scoffed and forced the phone back in her hand. "We're done," he said fiercely, all of his anger and hurt melding together in that one instant. Dan's eyes widened – all of theirs did. Chuck backed away from the three, making to leave. Blair's lips parted and her jaw dropped in desperation.

"Chuck, wait. It's not what you think, _really_," Dan said adamantly, walking towards him. Chuck's eyes narrowed in on him and he quickly held a hand up to stop his charge towards him.

"Stay the _hell_ away from me, Humphrey," he ground out. Dan stopped moving.

"_Chuck_," Serena scolded. He ignored her, his piercing stare glued to Dan's shaky, but persistent face. He glared him down for awhile more before speaking again. It looked like the Brooklyn boy would not dare to speak again. _Good_.

"I found a pregnancy test in my bathroom three days ago." Blair's small gasp did not make him falter. He hardly heard it, and the part of him that did half-concentrate on it was furious. It only gave him more proof. That was too much to take all at once. "Since then, Blair has been unavailable to me 24/7, and yet," he gestured briefly to the phone lying loosely in Blair's hand, "the two of you seem to be having the most controversial and life-changing of conversations," he spat. Dan was taken aback, but daringly started walking towards him again.

"Chuck, you don't—"

"I _swear_, Humphrey," he ground out dangerously, "if you don't get the hell away from me right now, I will beat the _shit_ out of you until you're bleeding on the ground, and there will be _no one_ to come save you."

All their eyes widened. They'd never seen him like this. Not this angry, not this threatening, not this _intense_. _Never_. It was difficult to breathe when they were this close to him. Chuck's crazed gaze looked back at Blair as he continued to talk to Dan.

"It's enough you're sleeping with my wife and are probably the father of her baby." The words were strangled, barely making it out of his mouth for all of them to hear.

"_Chuck_! It's not-that's not—"

He interrupted her cry and ignored the tears streaming down her cheeks. He ignored the desperation in all of their faces. In the back of his mind he wondered briefly if they should have gone elsewhere to discuss the situation. His insides were twisted so cruelly that he wondered if he'd make it to his limo across the street. The proposition to stand directly in front of a semi to let it hit him straight on was very strong.

"Not _true_?" he scoffed. His brows narrowed. "Don't lie to me, Blair. Nothing's that been said or done up until this point has proved otherwise. You didn't say a _single thing_ when I implied the worst." He stepped back and moved away from them, putting up a cold front to avoid the feelings that must be mixing, racing through all of them. He could barely contain his own enough to look relentlessly unforgiving and cold in front of them.

"Do you really think I would do this to you?" she shrieked, silently begging him to return, but he ignored her desperate pleas, unable to see anything but her lack of denial and the guilty tears that filled her eyes. He _hated_ those tears. They proved too much to him.

When he reached the street corner, he realized belatedly that the mere threat to punch Dan Humphrey was not enough. Maybe if he had been flirting with her, or perhaps if he had hit on her. But the man had been sleeping with her and was probably the father of the child that should have been his. The volcano in him exploded and he strode back towards the shell-shocked group. The sound of his fist meeting Dan's jaw crackled around them, but he hardly heard it as Dan's body fell to the floor. Chuck then toppled over beside him and continued to punch him. He yelled at him, every curse word imaginable, and tried his very best to hold back the angry tears. For all the threats and the initial punch he'd thrown at Chuck, Dan's attempts to fight back were futile.

"Chuck, _stop_!" Both girls begged of him, but seven punches later, it was Blair's begging voice that got through to him, despite what she had done. People on either sides of the street seemed to be panicking a little as well, but by the time someone had nearly reached him, he'd stopped, the pain finally reaching his bloody knuckles. He stared at Dan with pure hatred in his eyes. His eyes moved past Serena's shaken up figure, not mad enough to stop her from going to put back together the mess that was now Dan Humphrey. He was not far away, close enough for Serena to console both her best friend and her…well, whatever he'd been.

Chuck glared at Blair once more before leaving. "Don't come home," he spat angrily. "I don't want your filthy, cheating ass in my bed." She gasped, tears continuing to flood down her face. He knew if he stayed a second longer he'd regret everything he'd just done, so he turned away and let himself inside his limo, slamming the door behind him. The limo drove away then, though not nearly fast enough for his rushing adrenaline. Chuck wanted to scream. He'd done nothing but love her. Ever since he'd told her he loved her after their high school graduation, he'd done nothing but love her. And she'd gone and done _this_.

That baby was supposed to be _his_. That _woman_ was supposed to be _his_, and _only his_. They'd vowed faithfulness, in sickness and in health, for richer or poor, as long as they both should live. Somewhere along the line, she'd decided against those promises. For all the loyalty she'd bestowed on those closest to her, she'd denied him the most sacred of vows, and it completely broke his heart. He bid down hard on his bottom lip to keep from crying. He pounded his fist hard on the window he leaned on. Some of the blood streaked onto it. He could taste the blood from his lip in his mouth and breathed shakily. He closed his eyes and slammed his head against the back of the seat, cursing the fact that it was cushioned and would not break his skull. His entire body was shaking. Tears streamed down his face.

…

A/N: Wow. That was…intense. *shakes head* And it took me WAY too long to write. *grumbles* Hopefully my next piece won't take me so long. *sigh* Review! ;D


	6. Clearing Skies

A/N: I am back writing in full-force! Christmas just distracted me. Lol. This is the last chapter of this story. I was contemplating lengthening it, just b/c the end of the last chapter was so dramatic. But I have drawn out Blair not telling Chuck for like 5 chapters & I'd rather not pull in more large-scale elements at this point. Heh. So, I hope you've enjoyed this. The epilogue will be VERY long too. So, you'll have that to look forward to. ;p Please review. =)

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

**Ch.6—Clearing Skies **

She'd been shaking and now she sobbed. Serena could do nothing but hold her. She'd said everything that she could possibly be said, given the situation. It had been repeated over and over again, all the encouragement, advice, and occasional throwback to Dan in the kitchen that he keep the ice on his face. Nothing seemed to really help though, much less mentioning the less than tasteful (in Blair's opinion) individual that was believed the culprit of what had started out as such a small issue and now had transformed into a monster banishing Blair Bass from her own home, away from her love, and from just a misunderstanding. She hated misunderstandings – Serena did; especially when they involved her best friend and her brother, because the two were so very dramatic and it amounted to a much worse end result than any other couple would have suffered through.

There was one constant in all of this though, aside from Blair's fears, Chuck's stubbornness, and Dan's pathetic attempt at looking innocent. The advice Serena had stuck to all along, and she thought maybe _finally_ her best friend would listen to.

_You have to tell him, B._

"I just can't do it, S. It's too hard. Especially after what just happened!" she nearly shrieked. Serena shook her head, wrapping a curl behind the ear of her forlorn best friend.

"What just happened _should be_ the reason for you to finally tell him."

Those doe brown eyes shot to hers. They were almost glaring in disbelief but mostly they just looked hopeless, and it broke the blonde's heart even more. She wondered if she should consider pulling in the last troop of their little clan. Things always seemed to mend themselves quicker when the four of them were involved together. Dan, while helpful, did tend to rock the boat more than the rest. He was also much more gullible and less cautious in regards to outsiders.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked on a quiet breath, nearing a screech. "He kicked me out of my house!"

Serena gently put her hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. She tried to calm what seemed to be her best friend's hyperventilating. "_Breathe_, Blair," she said slowly. Much to her relief, the brunette did not look annoyed by the very psychiatrical advice, only took heed to it and tried to settle herself down. "Chuck had _no right_ to kick you out of your house, but that's beside the point. All of this has happened under a huge misunderstanding and you need to correct that if you ever expect this to get fixed. Plus, the house belongs to both of you. You should get some say into whether you need to leave or not, right?"

Blair sighed numbly, nodded her head and collapsed against her best friend's chest. Her tears seemed to dry. Serena stroked the long brunette curls and cuddled her close. It completely boggled her mind how Chuck could make such an outrageous accusation, despite how much his wife had been avoiding him lately. If she'd been having a secret affair with Dan – which was the most unlikely thing in the world – she would have been more absent about a month prior, not now. And Serena knew for a fact that it had been Blair and Chuck that had been humping like bunnies then, not Dan with her. There was no logic whatsoever in Chuck's accusation, not once it was really thought through. His conclusions had been purely based on a few texts, some absences, and a baby growing in his wife's stomach that he desperately wanted to be his. Serena smiled a bit at the thought. Behind all of Chuck's fury was the aching hunger to know for sure that he was the father. The blonde tried to keep the long rough sigh to herself, but some of it slipped out. The beautiful miracle of a new Bass baby could have been so much more enjoyable if – and she hated to say it – Dan had not gotten involved.

"Can't I just stay with you tonight, S?"

Serena bit her lip softly at the gentle desperate plea. Blair's eyes were bloodshot red, drowning out the beautiful brown color, and her face was damp with the ever reoccurring tears. Chuck definitely needed time to calm down, and the swelling on Dan's face had not gone down at all in the last three or so hours. It wouldn't be bad, might even be a good idea to let Blair spend the night. Then everyone could recuperate and maybe come out feeling better and more clear-headed in the morning. But she had let the stretch of thinking things through go on far enough. She hadn't been demanding enough in Blair's decision of maybe eventually telling Chuck the truth about the baby. Blair would not be spending the night with her. She would be spending it at home with Chuck, after telling him all about their beautiful new baby growing inside her.

She stood to her feet, unwrapping herself from the brunette's slumped over form, fully preparing to lecture her in the most firm, understanding way possible, so that her friend would leave with as much courage as she could muster. She would even go so far as going with her up until she actually confronted her furious Bass of a husband. Serena would be crossing her fingers when she left the two of them to sort things out. If Blair called her later, it would probably be because the worst had happened and she needed a place to stay. If she _didn't_ call, chances were likely that everything was okay again, and they were _celebrating_.

"S?" Blair asked, her brows furrowing a little in confusion as she watched the blonde plant her hands on her hips and sigh.

"Serena!"

Both girls turned their heads as Dan dragged his feet down the hall and poked his head into the doorway, his hand attached to his face with the melting icepack he'd become quite accustomed to using. A weary frown was implanted on his face.

"I think I'm going to go try and find another icepack. Alright?"

Serena blinked at him, and was midway through a nod once she comprehended what he'd said when a sly smile slid onto her face. Dan's face fell further and sweat droplets surfaced on his forehead.

"What?" he asked, quite sure he would not like the answer. Serena smiled wider. Blair looked between the two, trying to come to some sort of conclusion, but her mouth did not seem to work and so she just continued to watch, hoping she'd be clued in eventually.

Serena started walking towards Dan and then halted about a foot before the doorway where he stood. He looked wary now and Blair was feeling that emotion as well.

"S…" she began.

"Alright," Serena said slyly. "One pit-stop first though." Her eyes twinkled. It did not make him feel any better.

…

_No_, he'd said. _Absolutely not_. He was _not_ going to confront and _apologize_ to the man who had just pounded his face into the ground repeatedly. But Serena had thrown in his face how what had happened was _his_ fault to begin with, despite what Blair had chosen to do with the information he'd hardly chosen to hide. He could have argued the point but with Blair Bass being in the room and no doubt insisting that none of the current situation was herself. So, he gave in. For the protection of himself and the gratification of Serena. Also, on the rare occasion, Blair's sad doe eyes made her look vulnerable enough to him to be human, and he saw her as almost an equal.

Still, he was nowhere near excited about going to confront Chuck about what had really happened. He was probably going to get punched again no matter what. The truth or the misunderstanding both marked Dan with the abhorrent label of _guilty_. He could not have been relieved enough to see Nate walking down the street when he finally turned the corner to the Bass residence. The blonde had no doubt been somewhat confused at his friend's outrageous enthusiasm to see him that day, but he adjusted quickly and Dan made sure he couldn't back out of helping him approach Chuck by not allowing him out of his sight and tightly wrapping his arm inside Nate's elbow so he could not get away once they were in the elevator leading to the Bass penthouse.

"I've never encountered a fully outraged Chuck, but it can't be good if he physically beat you into the ground and believes you are the other man." He looked at Dan, as if really seeing him for the first time that afternoon. "You look horrible." Dan tried very hard not to glare, which ended up not being too difficult physically since it hurt to move much on his face period.

"Thanks," he muttered.

Nate shook his head. "I want to laugh, but something tells me this could never be taken as funny." He sighed. "Alright, I'll come with you – be your bodyguard, whatever – since I'm in the elevator already. But I can't guarantee any promising results. Usually, when Chuck's stuck in any sort of…intense emotion like this, only Blair can bring him out of it. And sometimes he even needs time to cool off before he can take her on her word."

Dan sighed and nodded once. "I would have used that logic if I had not thought the two girls would jump me for suggesting I not take full blame for the whole of it all, and act immediately."

"Why doesn't Serena just let Blair spend the night with her?"

Dan threw his hand out in frustration, because these very logical questions had been running through him full speed when he'd been forced to leave Serena's residence in order to get pummeled by Chuck a second time.

"All I can figure is that Serena let Blair put off telling Chuck the truth for so long that she doesn't want another night to go by without everything being worked out."

"Ah." Nate's comprehension dawned. "And since Blair's a sobbing puddle of goo and you were the initial instigator, in a way, naturally all of this is up to you to save."

Dan sighed loudly, but half of it was drowned out by the chiming of the elevator bell. They had reached the penthouse of Chuck and Blair Bass. Chuck was sitting at the kitchen table, drowning himself in some spiked orange juice. He was clearly still pissed and now brooding. Any sign of the tears he'd let spill in the limo earlier was gone. He looked exactly as he had when he'd left the former Brooklynite and two girls out on the street three hours ago.

"I said to not come home, Blair," Chuck ground out. Both Dan and Nate looked at each other warily. Beads of sweat were already popping out onto Dan's forehead again. He was very subtly shaking, almost waiting for the kill so he could slide back into the elevator and head for the hospital right away.

"I'll deal with you tomorrow," Chuck said. His glass had been half-way to his mouth when he'd heard the bell. Now the liquid soothed and burned his throat. When he did not hear the clacking sound of high-heels or a feminine sigh from behind him, he turned his body to look at who had entered his home. His eyes narrowed, and he glared as if he intended to murder them both. His eyes were dead set on Dan at first, but then they shifted to Nate's abruptly and softened slightly. _The blonde had nothing to do with this after all. Probably just happened to run into Dan in the lobby on the way up._ For some bizarre reason that Chuck would never understand, the two had grown quite close over the years.

"Nathaniel, what are you doing here?" he asked, turning his body more towards the two. Nate started walking towards him and Dan followed suit, albeit mostly in Nate's shadow.

"Just came to say hi," he said casually. Chuck turned back around and took another long gulp of his tainted drink.

"I'm busy," he said, unfolding and refolding the newspaper he'd practically memorized in front of him for all the times he'd pretended to read it since he'd gotten home. He'd hardly moved since he'd landed in this place shortly after walking through the door three hours earlier.

Nate looked back at Dan, hoping this awkward end to the conversation would be his out to leave, but his friend still look terrified, so he cleared his throat and turned towards Chuck, deciding truth was the only way to go now. He had never been particularly good in lying, especially to people who knew him extremely well.

"Alright, well, then I guess I'll just tell you." Chuck continued to sip at his drink and pretend to read over the newspaper in front of him. He looked to be completely ignoring his best friend, but Nate pressed on. He'd seen _this_ Chuck many times. "Dan has to tell you something, and I—"

"I don't care what that poor son-of-a-bitch has to say to me," he said coolly, flipping the newspaper over in an effort to keep his temper at bay while his best friend was in the vicinity. Nate cleared his throat again.

"I'm here so that you don't kill him again."

Chuck put down the newspaper and looked up at Nate. He realized then that he'd been informed of the whole situation and whatever else Dan had chosen to tell him – _probably lies_, he thought. But alright, he would put up with it, for _Nate's_ sake. Honestly, he didn't feel like punching Humphrey to a bloody pulp for a second time. He guessed he probably wasn't as skilled punching with his left hand and his right hand was now wrapped in what looked to be a ginormous wrap-around bandage.

Chuck looked from Nate to Dan and back, then he sighed, resigned and put the newspaper and his drink back on the table. "Alright," he said, turning all the way back into the table and gesturing with his head that the two come join him. Nate walked over and sat at the table, but Dan was not comfortable enough to allow himself to get comfortable and thus make his departure anything but easy.

"I didn't have sex with Blair, Chuck," Dan said deliberately once the brunette's glaring eyes had finally gotten the best of him. Chuck's jaw clenched but he said nothing. Nate's wary eyes were ever present on the two fairly separate individuals. His presence, Dan thought, was the only thing keeping him alive at the moment.

"I never have, and I never _want_ to. _You_ are the father of her baby, not me." Chuck still said nothing, but Dan knew the questions seething in his mind. He'd stated them enough while he was physically abusing him and hashing out at Blair. He knew now it would only be for the worst if he waited for them to be repeated.

"The texts you read that swayed you to think that I had and I am are of a completely different context." The slant of Chuck's eyes moved in a different direction. They were now a halfway mark between curiosity and impatience. "About five days ago, Blair found out she was pregnant and was calling you to tell you about it, because she couldn't wait. She was _that_ excited to tell you."

He couldn't tell if Chuck's eyes had softened a bit at the news. He pressed on, deciding to examine the transaction between the two of them later. He felt the soft happiness emanating off of Nate though, and somehow that soothed him. Nate was ecstatic for his best friend.

"Accidentally though," he continued, bracing himself for the worst, "she hit my name on her contacts' list and through some irritated course of action in trying to get off the phone as soon as possible, I realized what her intent was in calling you and…" he sighed, "I warned her about what you'd told me had happened with your mother. I wanted her to be cautious, because I didn't know how you'd take it. I knew you wouldn't want to lose her too, like you and your father had lost your mother."

Chuck didn't move. His jaw did not clench. His hands did not form into fists. His face did not harden. He didn't even glare. Dan had no idea how to take it, and he didn't have a chance to finish up the tale he'd started. The elevator bell dinged and slowly the three of them turned away from each other and looked across the foyer to see Blair Bass standing just outside the entrance of the doorway.

…

It probably couldn't be described as running to the elevator doors, but they certainly weren't moving slowly when they left. Dan was only too relieved when Blair had shown up to take his place. They didn't share eye contact, but he wasn't about to wait for confirmation, not even from Nate. He did his best to stand up casually, so as not to cause suspicion in Chuck, and then he left, Nate leaving shortly after. The blonde actually nodded once to Blair in a greeting/departure, but she didn't acknowledge him. Her eyes were glued to Chuck's as his were to hers.

"Going to kick me out?" she asked quietly, her tears from earlier still drying on her face. She'd made sure to clean up the smeared make-up on her face before she left so she didn't look like a complete sobbing mess, even if she had every right to. _Her husband had just kicked her out of the house after all. _

Chuck said nothing, just looked at her. She nodded, swallowed hard and made her way over to the table where she stood before him, just as Dan had done. She hadn't heard all of what Dan had told her husband, but she guessed it was almost the whole of it and decided to go with that.

"It's true," she said. His eyes widened with alarm, and she realized the assumption she'd come to. "No," she said quickly. _No more misunderstandings_, she demanded of herself. They had done too much damage already. She had to be clear and direct. "Not that." She sat down in the empty chair beside him. "Not that," she whispered again. Thick silence settled between them.

"Why weren't you around, Blair?" he asked gently. She looked up into his eyes, realized they were now gentle and concerned. Apparently he had decided to believe Humphrey, or at least he would if she answered his remaining questions correctly. She tensed at the prospect and then relaxed suddenly when she felt one of his hands close over hers. She was alarmed and confused. _Was it possible that maybe he was feeling guilty for how he'd lashed out? _If he was, there was no way she could be sure, and she would not dare ask until this was all over.

Her lips parted. "I was scared," she said softly.

_"I was scared."_

"I knew if I was around most of the time you were around that I wouldn't be able to hide it from you, that I was pregnant."

_"Scared that if we spent the whole summer together, just us, that you'd see… me."_

"I never knew about your mother, Chuck. If it was so serious that you couldn't even tell me, your wife, the only woman you'd ever fallen in love with…" she sighed. "well, what would you do with the knowledge that I was pregnant? And, as a pregnant woman, that the same thing that happened to your mother in childbirth would happen to me? I thought there was a very real possibility that you would be furious with me for getting pregnant to begin with, for somehow not being more careful." She closed her eyes and shook her head. Guilt and extreme sorrow racked through him when he saw the tears that moistened her eyelashes. Her eyes were filled with them when she looked at him again.

"I thought about…a-about getting rid of it, so you wouldn't be angry or worried..." Her breath hitched and his heart broke for her. _How could he have been so accusatory towards her when she'd been going through so much pain herself? And then he'd gone and thrown her out of the house?_ He felt like a total ass who didn't deserve anything in the world, especially not to be the father of the baby to the woman he loved, to have both of them _belong_ to him. "But I just couldn't do it, Chuck. I _couldn't_." Tears trickled down her face as her breath hitched and heightened the volume of her voice. "It was _our_ baby."

The fear that had threatened to engulf him that she had actually gone and gotten an abortion without even bringing any of this up to him faded instantly at her admission. Of course she wouldn't get an abortion. She was highly against the act, and she loved him so much. He couldn't believe how out of control he had gotten. All the emotions swirling around them now drew him to embrace her suddenly and hold her tightly in his arms. She cried into the crook of his neck as he cuddled her softly against him.

"I'm sorry, Blair. I'm _so sorry_. I shouldn't have…" he sighed, "acted the way I did when I didn't even know." He ground his teeth against each other, furious with himself. "God, I wish you would have told me, Blair." He ducked his head in her hair and swam in the softness, smelling the sweetness of her shampoo and the lavender vanilla perfume on her neck. He felt her slide onto his lap and clutch at him with her arms around his neck. She shivered in his arms when he pressed kisses to the curve of her neck and the silk skin on her face.

She said nothing, just tried to breathe and allow herself to relax. Because finally she was feeling at peace again. He wasn't furious – at least, not about her keeping secrets. She wasn't sure if he was thrilled at the fact that she was pregnant, but for the moment she didn't care. Everything was out and it felt so good, because she hadn't let him hold her in days. She hadn't even really let him _see_ her in days, in every possible sense of that word.

"I love you, Chuck," she said softly against his face. She shivered when he kissed her again.

"What about Dan?" he asked again. "What about the texts?"

She pulled her face away and cupped his face in her hands. "I didn't know what to do, and I was too afraid to talk to you about it. So…I was trying to put a guilt trip on him. I wanted him to fix it. But," she sighed. "All he did was tell me what Serena had been telling me. To go and talk to you." She shook her head and closed her eyes, two more tears sliding out between lashes. "I should have done that to begin with."

Completely relieved about everything, he pulled her back to him and let her rest her head against his chest. He held her and rocked her and told her how sorry he was and how much he loved her. Then, he was silent and they just stayed that way for what felt like forever. When he finally spoke again, the sparks of joy were almost overwhelming.

"So, we're really having a baby?" he asked.

She pulled away to look at him, knowing this moment was the one she'd feared most of all from the very beginning, ever since Dan had put those awful doubts in her mind. She looked deep into her husband's eyes and saw him on the brink of hope and desire and every single emotion that an aching, loving father could feel. She saw his love for her and smiled a little. Then, she nodded, and the huge smile that erupted on his face sent her butterflies in full flight inside her. She couldn't control them. A huge smile of her own came onto her face, and before she knew it, he had stood them both to their feet and then he'd lifted her up and spun her around in dizzying circles. She laughed and smiled. Her giddy excitement was so beautiful he thought he'd drown it. Finally, he set her down on her feet and cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her passionately then, unable to wait another second. Because the days without touching her had been torture, and the last few hours of anger and sadness and guilt had created such torment and separation between the two of them he'd thought they'd never get through it. It had been so awful.

"Chuck," she gasped, kissing him back just as fiercely. Then, just as quickly as he'd lunged at her, he pulled away. She looked confused, but she was still smiling and he was as giddy as ever, like a boy given a bucket-load of candy after getting good grades on a report card and showing it off with pride.

"Wait here," he told her. She looked at him strangely but did as she was told. He ran off to the bedroom, fetched an object and then came back to her. He cleared his throat as if preparing her for the most wonderful thing she'd ever see in the whole of her lifetime.

She blinked, mystified by the object displayed openly before her in his hands. It was her pregnancy stick, lying amidst tissue paper. He was so proud of it, so proud of what he'd found that she was gaping when she looked back up at him.

"I found it," he said. "Just a few days after when I think you took it, I found it, and I was so excited." He set the stick on the table beside them and pulled her close. He leaned his face in and pressed his forehead against hers. "I can't _wait_ to have this baby with you, Blair."

She smiled brilliantly, happier than she'd ever been in her life.

"I can't wait," he said again. She kissed him and he groaned into her because he couldn't wait and he finally had her again.

…

A/N: You approve, yes? Hehehe. Really sorry it took so long! I know I told a bunch of you a few days ago that I'd have it up in a few hours, but motivation and other things to do has been KILLING me. Hope you enjoyed. I will REALLY try to have the epilogue up soon. It's gonna be insanely long. Prepare yourselves. ;D Though, I am considering a sequel instead. Please vote on my new poll if you'd like me to write out the next 9 months of Blair's pregnancy in this story in the epilogue with a scene for each month, or if you'd like me to do a sequel to this fic for the next 9 months and thus expand on the SL in more detail. =)


	7. Morning Woos

A/N: Back by popular demand. I seriously can't believe how popular this story is, and to think it's a fic I didn't even plan on updating that often and haven't. You guys are amazing. The reason this has taken so long for me to update is that amidst trying to figure out if I should wrap this up with a lengthy epilogue or continue it in a sequel, an ever so contemplative reviewer wondered why the story was not just going to be continue in and of itself, and I thought to myself, hey, I can totally just include it all in this one. The title still applies to what I'd do & I can do SO many arcs with it. Heheh. However, this also means I have to completely reconfigure my outline again. *sigh* Hence the taking so long to update. These outlines take time to figure out, especially now that I've realized this story is now going to be considerably _long_. Heh. I still have not done that. But, I figured you've waited long enough, so here I am updating. Lol. I'm thinking this chapter will be mostly filler, since I'm not 100% sure on the details of what comes next, but here it is anyways. Hope you'll enjoy and please review! ;p

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…..

**Ch.7—Morning Woos**

The first thing she felt when she woke up was the light pressure of something warm on her stomach. Her eyes flickered open and she noticed it was Chuck's hand resting on the silk negligee covering her still flat stomach. She smiled softly.

"Feel anything?" she asked. She swore she felt him jump a little.

"Blair," he said, sounding very shocked. "I didn't know you were awake." She continued to smile and took his chin in her hand, pulling his face towards hers and kissing him soundly.

"Mmm," she moaned softly against him. "I am now."

He smiled and breathed against her. "Want to talk about baby names?"

She chuckled. "I haven't even gotten out of bed yet. Must we already start checking off things on the baby to-do list."

"Sorry." He blushed, his expression turning sheepish. She didn't think she'd ever seen him look shy ever in his life, except maybe when he'd been unable to put on his bowtie properly when she'd snuck into his room to see him all dolled up in her wedding dress twenty minutes before the wedding. He'd never been so nervous in his life, and told her on several occasions afterwards that he'd been seriously worried he wouldn't be able to put one foot in front of the other walking down the aisle himself, let alone repeat the vows the pastor would tell him to say and in addition recite his own to his beloved wife. Somehow he'd managed. But when she'd appeared in the full-length mirror he hadn't known if he'd be able to.

"I'm just excited. I want this to be done right."

She propped herself up on one elbow and looked at him, lovingly stroking his tossled hair to the side of his face so she could see his eyes clearly.

"I hope he has your eyes," she sighed dreamily. His eyes lit up instantly.

"You know it's going to be a _he_?" he asked excitedly. If he were a child she imagined he'd be jumping up and down beside the bed at this point, on top of it if he had a very lenient nanny or parents.

"No." She laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think it's possible to know at this stage. But I hope we do. I want a little Chuck following me around everywhere."

He was speechless. It was clear he was holding in some overwhelming emotion he was having trouble putting into words, a _lot_ of trouble. He clearly could not decide on what action to accompany the words he couldn't come to grips with either.

"You are…I am…this is…I…"

She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him to her again, so completely in love with his inability to stop smiling. "Just kiss me, Bass," she murmured, possessively taking his lips captive.

As soon as he'd recovered he whispered hotly against her lips. "Yes, ma'am."

She pushed him onto his back and straddled herself snugly against his crotch. He groaned, even more so when she started to rub her soaked panties against what had suddenly become tented boxers. She wanted to tease him further but she didn't think she could last. Usually she could hold out for at least a good ten minutes, but she'd heard it was different for pregnant women. They could get incredibly horny – a fact she was sure Chuck would love. The fact that she had not had sex with him aside from the one time before they fell asleep for at least a week, maybe it had only been three days…she couldn't recall, but it felt like an eternity.

"Chuck…" She sucked in her breath. "I don't think I can take much this morning," she ground out, pushing herself against him harder. He growled and reversed their positions, ridding both of them of their underwear in the process.

"Me either," he purred against her, sinking his member into her flooded core. He covered the screams spurting out of her mouth at a hasty speed with his fierce full lips and tongue. She pushed up into him and set the gentle rhythm that quickly became fierce and wild. She clung to him with the claws of a kitten afraid of falling off whatever piece of furniture he'd decided to dig his nails into.

Both were breathing heavily when it was finished. They were quiet for a long time.

"Am I going to have to slow it down soon? So I don't hurt the baby?" he asked, his thumb circling the curve of her bare shoulder, brushing the strap that had slipped down to the halfway mark between her shoulder and elbow.

"I hope not," she murmured against him, her eyes still closed as she lay on his chest. She was half-way between awake and asleep – the only thing keeping her awake was the fact that if Chuck moved she would no longer be warm and she couldn't risk that. He was too darn comfy. "If the rumors are true, I'm going to be incredibly horny for the next nine months and I'm going to be pissed as hell if we fall into the rut of going _slow_ all the time."

He smirked. "I wouldn't be too fond of it either," he admitted.

She snuggled her face further into his chest, pushing herself up towards the crook of his neck so she could get more warmth. Her toes got twisted in the sheets however and she frowned. It was not very comfortable. She sighed, aggravated.

"What is it?" he asked gently, though it was obvious he was amused by whatever trifle was annoying her. How he knew it was something quite trivial she'd never know, but he'd seemed to know her pretty well since day one. She wouldn't question it.

"Would you mind very much taking the sheets out from between my toes?" she asked as if her current trouble was the most difficult thing she'd have to overcome in her life. She felt him chuckle and squeezed her eyes shut, not yet prepared to combat his teasing with some wit of her own.

"How about I make breakfast instead?"

She blinked a few times as if she could not comprehend. He took that as a sign of acceptance and started to sit up.

"I'll bring it to bed."

"No!" she suddenly shrieked when she realized he was almost completely off the bed and reaching for his boxers and silk pajama pants. The sudden reaction was so fierce that when she wrapped her arm around his waist to pull him back to bed her nails dug into he side.

"Ow!"

She released him quickly, simultaneously gasping at the realization of what she'd done. "Sorry!" she said hastily.

He stood to his feet and slipped into his boxers and pants, rubbing his side. "What the hell, Blair? I said I'd bring it to bed. No need for you to move, or get…" he stopped rubbing his side for a moment and inspected the patch of skin where her nails had dug in. "…violent."

"Sorry," she said again, averting her eyes. "I just…" she sighed, sounding like a frustrated little girl. His eyebrows were raised in amused curiosity when she finally looked at him. "You're warm…" she mumbled. "I didn't want you to get up."

He looked at her speculatively, debating on whether or not to ask her to repeat herself. He decided not and smiled. He took the single step back to the bed and scooped her up in his arms.

"Chuck!" she shrieked.

"I've got a solution for this little problem of yours."

"What's that?" she asked, her arms wrapping around his neck as he carried her out of their bedroom towards the kitchen.

"You can help me," he said, setting her down suddenly on the tile floor. She frowned.

"But I don't _wanna_ cook," she whined.

…

"S, it's not going to happen. You can forget it."

She pulled the milk out of the fridge and waved her hand around for Chuck to bring a glass to her. When he gestured with his own hands filled with a newspaper and coffee mug, she gestured to her stomach with an over-the-top inclination of her head and he exhaled silently, resigned. He stood to his feet and headed over to the cupboard. She smiled sweetly when he opened the small door and set the glass down in front of her. She mouthed _I love you_ to him as he began the short trek back to the kitchen table. He did not seem to notice.

"I think you can convince him to do it, B. You can convince him to do just about anything."

Blair put the milk back in the fridge and crossed the kitchen to sit across from Chuck at the table. Her lips parted in sudden realization and she gasped. Chuck's head lifted slowly, fearing the worst. It was not as if this would be only the second time he'd been forced to get something for his lovely pregnant wife since he'd first poured himself the cup of coffee that had barely gotten a sip out of it. He wondered if his back would ache by the time they got to lunch.

Her pouty crooked apologetic mouth got the best of him as he followed where her eyes darted to. The yogurt, croissant and bowl of grapes were still sitting on the counter. He nodded once and stood to his feet, crossing the kitchen. She mouthed a _thank-you_ after he'd sat down again. He nodded again.

"Not true, S. Even Chuck has limits."

He decided not to respond to that.

A pregnant wife was no doubt going to extend his limits farther than they'd ever been stretched before. He'd face heaven and hell and even the ghost of his late father if it meant keeping her and their baby safe. However, he decided it was probably best if he did not say that too hastily out loud. His remark of _whatever you want, I'll get it for you_ just before he'd set out to cook breakfast had been a serious mistake on his part. She just sounded too damn sweet when she whined to not wanting to cook. Plus, her arms wrapped around his waist most of the time he'd been cooking had warmed him to his soul. He'd never get tired of it. It made him even consider cooking on a regular basis. The tasks following the cooking process however had not been as rewarding, especially after Blair had gotten an "urgent phone call" from Serena and thus had been unable to use one of her hands. Apparently she'd forgotten how to place the device between her ear and shoulder. He decided that would also be another thing he would not bring up for the time being.

"You're pregnant now. You can push them," she said.

Blair sighed, tucking a curl behind her ear and then taking a sip of her milk. She popped a grape into her mouth and chomped down on it quietly.

"Even if I could, I'm not even sure I _want_ him to apologize."

"Blair!"

The brunette popped more grapes into her mouth and chewed. She heard Serena's uneven breathing on the other end, but decided to ignore it, taking a bite of the croissant in her mouth and remembering fondly her last time in Paris. It occurred to her then that no one outside of Chuck, herself, Serena, Humphrey, and Nate knew about her pregnancy. Granted that was a lot of people, the core group, it did not involve any of their parents. That was probably not normal.

"Chuck punched him in the face!"

Blair kept chewing.

"Multiple times!" She made an effort to calm herself and come up with a more successful argument. "Things are good between you guys again. There's no real reason why you couldn't or _shouldn't_ use that to your advantage. I saw how horrified you looked when your jealous husband attacked Dan on the street right in front of us. Don't even try to deny it."

She swallowed a large amount of milk and then held up her empty glass to Chuck, who had been unable to deny her request when he saw she was also void of napkin to wipe the white mustache from just above her upper lip. He'd even smiled a little bit.

"I'll see what I can do," she allowed.

"Thank-you," Serena said, relieved. She blew out a gust of exasperated wind.

"You're welcome. I have to go now, S. Talk to you later." She hung up the phone before Serena could get another word in. She also turned the ringer on silent so she would not be interrupted. She stood to her feet before Chuck had even turned around to walk back to the table and hand her the napkin and fresh glass of milk. He nearly dropped the glass where he stood when she slaughtered him with a grape-milk-croissant tasting tongue. Suddenly all the annoyances of the last fifteen minutes were as good as erased from his memory. He maneuvered them across the kitchen floor so he could set the glass down and focused his attention on kissing her.

She was so lost in the embrace and very much _not_ as in control as she'd planned on being. She should have known kissing him was a mistake, but it was a lure she knew he'd give into. She'd just been oblivious during the split-second she thought of it that she'd be just as lured in as he was, despite the fact that _she_ was the temptress.

"Chuck," she gasped, pulling away suddenly. His eyes were filled with heat. She braced herself, her hands planted on his shoulders. "You have to apologize to Humphrey." His brows narrowed in clear disapproval, but she'd stumbled down the hall to the bathroom before he could argue with her.

…

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Something of more consistency next time, I promise. ;p Just don't expect it to show up overnight. XD


End file.
